Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
  • G21G—CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ELEMENTS; RADIOACTIVE SOURCES
  • G21G1/00—Arrangements for converting chemical elements by electromagnetic radiation, corpuscular radiation or particle bombardment, e.g. producing radioactive isotopes
  • G21G1/02—Arrangements for converting chemical elements by electromagnetic radiation, corpuscular radiation or particle bombardment, e.g. producing radioactive isotopes in nuclear reactors
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05H—PLASMA TECHNIQUE; PRODUCTION OF ACCELERATED ELECTRICALLY-CHARGED PARTICLES OR OF NEUTRONS; PRODUCTION OR ACCELERATION OF NEUTRAL MOLECULAR OR ATOMIC BEAMS
  • H05H7/00—Details of devices of the types covered by groups H05H9/00, H05H11/00, H05H13/00
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
  • G21B—FUSION REACTORS
  • G21B1/00—Thermonuclear fusion reactors
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
  • G21G—CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ELEMENTS; RADIOACTIVE SOURCES
  • G21G1/00—Arrangements for converting chemical elements by electromagnetic radiation, corpuscular radiation or particle bombardment, e.g. producing radioactive isotopes
  • G21G1/04—Arrangements for converting chemical elements by electromagnetic radiation, corpuscular radiation or particle bombardment, e.g. producing radioactive isotopes outside nuclear reactors or particle accelerators
  • G21G1/10—Arrangements for converting chemical elements by electromagnetic radiation, corpuscular radiation or particle bombardment, e.g. producing radioactive isotopes outside nuclear reactors or particle accelerators by bombardment with electrically charged particles
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05H—PLASMA TECHNIQUE; PRODUCTION OF ACCELERATED ELECTRICALLY-CHARGED PARTICLES OR OF NEUTRONS; PRODUCTION OR ACCELERATION OF NEUTRAL MOLECULAR OR ATOMIC BEAMS
  • H05H15/00—Methods or devices for acceleration of charged particles not otherwise provided for, e.g. wakefield accelerators
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05H—PLASMA TECHNIQUE; PRODUCTION OF ACCELERATED ELECTRICALLY-CHARGED PARTICLES OR OF NEUTRONS; PRODUCTION OR ACCELERATION OF NEUTRAL MOLECULAR OR ATOMIC BEAMS
  • H05H6/00—Targets for producing nuclear reactions
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E30/00—Energy generation of nuclear origin
  • Y02E30/10—Nuclear fusion reactors

Definitions

• This invention relates: to a method for impact compression of a condensed (liquid or, preferably, solid) substance to a superdense state in which pycnonuclear processes and inertial confinement fusion (ICF hereafter) may proceed, and to a structure of devices based on relativistic vacuum diodes (RVD hereafter) including plasma cathodes, designed for carrying out the said method.
• RVD relativistic vacuum diodes
• Radioactive waste containing long-lived isotopes into materials containing short-lived isotopes and/or stable isotopes, which is particularly important in decontamination of used gamma-ray sources, e.g., based on radioactive isotopes of cobalt widely used in industry and medicine.
• target is a once used for impact compression dose of at least one arbitrary isotope of at least one chemical element, being a raw material for obtaining products of nuclear transformations and, optionally, a primary energy carrier for energy producing;
• impact compression is an isoentropic impact action of a self-focusing converging density wave on at least a part of a target;
• “superdense state” is such a state of at least a part of the target after it has been compressed by impact, at which state a substantial portion of the target substance transforms into electron-nuclear and electron-nucleonic plasma;
• "pycnonuclear process” is such a recombinational interaction ('cold' in particular) between components of electron-nuclear and electron-nucleonic plasma of the target substance compressed to a superdense state causing at least the target isotopic composition change;
• plasma cathode is such a consumable axisymmetric part of the RVD negative electrode which is able (in the beginning of the discharge pulse) to generate plasma shell (of the material of the near-surface layer) with the near zero electron work function;
• anode-enhancer is such once used replaceable axisymmetric part of the RVD anode which may be completely produced of preferably conductive (in the main) material and used as a target itself in the simplest demonstration experiments, or has the shape of at least a single-layer shell of a hard strong material inside of which a selected target is fixed also axisymmetrically providing the acoustic contact, when such anode-enchancer is used for industrial needs;
• "focal space” is such a volume in the RVD vacuum chamber which spatially confines a certain length of the common geometric symmetry axis of the RVD electrodes and in which (in the absence of obstacles and under pre-set values of the area of the emitting surface of the plasma cathode, energy of electrons and current density) a pinch of electron beam is possible due to collective self-focussing of relativistic electrons.
• the duration of laser radiation pulses can be brought to about 1 ns. This could ensure efficient time compression of an energy flux, and a sharp decrease in the target surface area could be a prerequisite for the space compression of said flux as well.
• a cavitation fusion reactor comprising: at least one source of mechanical supersonic oscillations, preferably a plurality of sound conductors capable of transmitting these oscillations into the confined body of a target in a resonance mode with an increase in the energy flux density per unit of area, means for heat removal in the form of a suitable heat exchanger;
• such method of use of the described reactor which includes: producing targets poorly conducting sound by pressing a fuel material required for nuclear fusion, preferably titanium deuteride, or lithium deuteride, or gadolinium dideuteride, etc., into a solid sound conducting matrix from a refractory metal (e.g.
• titanium, tungsten, gadolinium, osmium or molybdenum introducing at least one such matrix with at least one such target into acoustic contact with at least one sound conductor connected to the source of mechanical supersonic oscillations, acting upon such matrix by a train of supersonic impulses in a resonance mode, which acting causes mechanical-and-chemical destruction of deuterides and fluidization of targets due to the conversion of kinetic energy of the mechanical oscillations into the heat and essentially simultaneously induces cavitation in the 'liquid' targets due to 'evaporation' of deuterium from the targets, i.e. appearance of vapor bubbles and their collapse under the pressure of the host material, and terminating the process after nuclear fusion reactions with energy release inside the targets are completed.
• Each RVD comprises a vacuum chamber inside of which a cathode and an anode are fixed, said cathode and anode are connected to an electric charge storage via a pulse discharger.
• a pulse discharger With a sufficiently great charge and a short duration of a discharge pulse, such diodes are capable of providing an explosive electron emission from the surface of the cathode and acceleration of electrons to relativistic velocity with the efficiency of more than 90%.
• the relativistic vacuum diodes had been the object of attention of physicists during the whole 20 th century, and numerous enhancements to the design of such diodes as the whole and particularly cathodes for them were intended for the space-time compression of energy in the electron beams and shaping these beams to required spatial form.
• thermonuclear fuel i.e. deuterium or a mixture of deuterium and tritium
• An RVD based device for impact compression of a substance comprises a spherical vacuum chamber fitted with a heat exchanger and provided with a channel for targets feeding, two annular cathodes located symmetrically with respect to the central plane of the vacuum chamber, additional plasma injecting device located between the cathodes and forming a flat plasma anode directly prior to the discharge of the supplying circuit.
• the known from the same patent cathode has a current carrying part and a focussing tip made in the shape of a ring with a sharp edge for increasing an electric field gradient thereon. The edge of such cathode is covered with its own layer of plasma during a discharge.
• the anode should be made from solid substance and either itself functions as a target or incorporates a target, and that the pinch should be prevented in the gap between the electrodes and self-focussing of the electron beam be achieved on the anode surface simultaneously in the process of the discharge.
• a striking example of such approach can be a RVD based pulse source of electrons that comprises a plasma cathode having a shaped plate of a dielectric material and a conductive cover of precisely the same shape for a portion of the surface of said plate (SU 1545826 A1). Under a pulse discharge, such a composite cathode can generate an electron beam, which is not subject to the pinch and has the shape that corresponds to the shape of the dielectric plate.
• Method of impact compression of a substance which can be easily perceived by those skilled in the art from the above-mentioned sources of information, includes: producing a target in the shape of such an axisymmetric part from a condensed substance that is at least a part of a RVD anode (namely, in the shape of a hemispheric tip of a needle-like anode-enhancer having a diameter of the order of several micrometers), placing the target in the RVD fitted also with an axisymmetric plasma cathode, which is located practically on the same geometric axis with said anode-enhancer and is spaced by several millimeters therefrom, and pulse discharge of the power source via the RVD in the self-focussing mode of an electron beam on the surface of the anode-enhancer.
• Device using the described method for impact compression of a substance was made on the basis of a RVD. It comprises: a strong gas-tight housing a part of which is made of a current-conducting material shaped in axial symmetry to confine a vacuum chamber, and an axisymmetric plasma cathode and an axisymmetric anode-enhancer fixed in said chamber practically on the same geometric axis of which at least plasma cathode is connected to a pulsed high-voltage power source.
• the cathode was made in accordance with a classical scheme: "current- conducting (usually metallic) rod converging in the direction to the anode ended with dielectric element', the perimeter and the area of the operative end of the latter element being no greater than the respective perimeter and the cross section of said rod (Mesyats G.A. Cathode Phenomena in a Vacuum Discharge: The Breakdown, the Spark and the Arc. Nauka Publishers, Moscow, 2000, p.60).
• the invention is based on the problem: First, by way of changing the conditions of performing the steps, to create such a method for impact compression of an essential portion of the target substance to a superdense state that could be fulfilled at each pulsed RVD discharge,
• the first aspect of the problem is solved so that in the method of compressing a substance by impact using a RVD having an axisymmetric vacuum chamber with current-conducting walls, an axisymmetric plasma cathode and an axisymmetric anode- enhancer, including: producing a target in the shape of an axisymmetric part of a condensed substance that functions as at least a part of the anode-enhancer, placing the anode-enhancer into the RVD chamber with a gap towards the plasma cathode practically on the same geometric axis therewith, and pulse discharge of the power source via the RVD in the electron beam self- focussing mode on the surface of the anode-enhancer, according to the invention the axisymmetric plasma cathode is used in the form of a current-conducting rod comprising a dielectric end element having the perimeter of the rear end embracing the perimeter of said rod at least in the plane perpendicular to the axis of symmetry of the cathode with a continuous gap, and the area of
• the transmutation according to the invention in essence from the traditional transmutation attained by bombardment of solid targets (e.g., made from the same copper or molybdenum) by ions (deuterons as a rule) produced from sources with magnetically confined anode plasma and run in complicated and dangerous in operation pulse accelerators to obtain power fluxes of the order of 1 kW at the ion energy of more than 5 MeV (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,110).
• ions deuterons as a rule
• RVD type electron accelerator with a minimum power consumption provides (as will be shown in detail below) the transmutation nuclear reactions with the yield of a wide spectrum of isotopes.
• the first additional feature consists in that used in the relativistic vacuum diode plasma cathode has a pointed current-conducting rod, the dielectric end element of this cathode is provided with an opening for setting on said rod, and the setting part of said rod together with the pointed end is located inside the opening. This allows to control at least partially the gap between the RVD electrodes and to stabilize the plasma cathode operation, that is especially important for experimental optimization of the impact compression process.
• the second additional feature consists in that the target is formed in the shape of an insert into the central part of the RVD anode-enhancer, the diameter of said insert is chosen in the range of 0.05 to 0.2 of the maximum cross-sectional dimension of the anode-enhancer.
• the third additional feature consists in that at least that part of the anode- enhancer, which is directed to the plasma cathode, is spheroidally formed prior to mounting in the RVD.
• This allows the mechanical soliton-like impulse of density to be concentrated in a microscopically small volume and, as a result of this concentration, to provide the impact compression of an each target substance up to a superdense state with a yield of 10 17 to 10 18 atoms of transmuted products even with the minimum (the order of 300-1000 J) energy consumption for a single 'shot'.
• the fourth additional feature consists in that the target is formed in the shape of a spheroidal body tightly fixed inside the anode-enhancer in such a way that the centers of the inner and outer spheroids practically coincide. This allows to increase essentially the yield of a transmuted material.
• the fifth additional feature consists in that the anode-enhancer is acted upon by an electron beam having the electron energy up to 1.5 MeV, current density not greater than 10 8 A/cm 2 and duration not greater than 50 ns. These parameters are sufficient for pycnonuclear processes to proceed in targets consisting of the most stable atoms of chemical elements from the 'middle part' of the periodic table.
• the sixth additional feature consists in that the current density of the electron beam is not more than 10 7 A/cm 2 , which is sufficient for effective impact compression of the majority of condensed target materials.
• the seventh additional feature consists in that the residual pressure in the RVD vacuum chamber is maintained at the level not greater than 0.1 Pa, which is quite sufficient to prevent a gas discharge between the RVD electrodes.
• the second aspect of the problem is solved in that in a device for impact compression of a substance, which is based on RVD and is comprised of: a strong gas-tight housing a part of which is made of a current-conducting material shaped in axial symmetry to confine a vacuum chamber, and an axisymmetric plasma cathode and an axisymmetric anode-enhancer mounted with a gap in the vacuum chamber practically on the same geometric axis of which at least the cathode is connected to a pulse high-voltage power source, according to the invention the plasma cathode is made in the form of a current-conducting rod comprising a dielectric end element having the perimeter of the rear end embracing the perimeter of said rod at least in the plane perpendicular to the axis of symmetry of the cathode with a
• the RVD having the combination of the mentioned features is useful at least for transmutation of nuclei of certain chemical elements into nuclei of other chemical elements as it was disclosed above in the commentaries to the subject matter of the method according to the invention.
• the first additional feature consists in that the current-conducting rod of the plasma cathode is pointed and the dielectric end element is provided with an opening for setting on said rod the setting part of which is located together with the pointed end inside the said opening.
• the second additional feature consists in that the anode-enhancer has a circular shape in the cross section and is completely produced from a current-conducting in its main mass material to be transmuted. This allows to demonstrate the effect of transmutation on the simplest specimens of pure metals and metal alloys and to product transuranides in particular.
• the third additional feature consists in that the anode-enhancer is made composite and comprises at least a one-layer solid shell and an inserted target tightly embraced by this shell, said target being in the shape of a body of revolution and made of an arbitrary condensed material with a diameter in the range of (0.05-0.2) d max , where d max is a maximum cross-sectional dimension of the anode-enhancer.
• the fourth additional feature consists in that at least one shield preferably of current-conducting material is mounted in the tail part of the anode-enhancer. It can capture a portion of products of pycnonuclear processes produced as a result of the impact compression of the main target to a superdense state and function as an additional target for nuclear interaction at the scattering of transmuted particles of the anode-enhancer.
• the fifth additional feature consists in that said shield is a thin-wall body of revolution with the diameter not less than 5d ma ⁇ which is spaced from the nearest to the plasma cathode end of said anode-enhancer by the distance up to 20d max , where d max is a maximum cross-sectional dimension of the anode-enhancer.
• Such shield promotes self-focussing of the electron beam on the major portion of the anode-enhancer surface and captures a tangible portion of products of pycnonuclear processes.
• the sixth additional feature consists in that said thin-wall body of revolution has a flat or concave surface at the side of the anode-enhancer. This significantly retards precipitation of the pycnonuclear processes products on the vacuum chamber walls.
• the third auxiliary aspect of the problem is solved in that in the axisymmetric plasma cathode having a current-conductive rod for connection to a pulsed high-voltage power source and a dielectric end element according to the invention the perimeter of the rear end of the dielectric element embraces the perimeter of said rod with a continuous gap at least in the plane perpendicular to the axis of symmetry of the cathode.
• the first additional feature consists in that the current-conducting rod of the plasma cathode is pointed and the dielectric end element is provided with an opening for setting on said rod the setting part of which is located together with the pointed end inside the said opening.
• the second additional feature consists in that the dielectric end element has a blind opening, which is more preferable in adjusting the gap between the RVD electrodes.
• the third additional feature consists in that the dielectric end element has a through opening, that is more preferable for controlling the formation of a plasma cloud and, respectively, stabilizing of the RVD operation at the moment of breakdown.
• the fourth additional feature consists in that the dielectric end element is made of a material selected from the group consisting of carbon-chain polymers with single carbon-to-carbon bonds, paper-base laminate or textolite type composite materials with organic binders, ebony wood, natural or synthetic mica, pure oxides of metals belonging to lll-VII groups of the periodic table, inorganic glass, sitall, ceramic dielectrics and basalt-fiber felt.
• dielectric end element has a developed surface to facilitate formation of a plasma cloud in case of a breakdown.
• FIG. 1 is a structural layout diagram of electrodes in the RVD, the adjustable geometric parameters being pointed out;
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a pulsed high-voltage power source
• FIG. 3 is a preferable structure of an axisymmetric plasma cathode (a section along the symmetry axis);
• FIG. 4 is a view of the rear end of the axisymmetric plasma cathode taken along the plane IV-IV (with a cross section of the current-conducting rod);
• FIG. 5 is an integral axisymmetric anode-enhancer used directly as a target for demonstration of impact compression of a substance to a superdense state (a section along the symmetry axis);
• FIG. 6 is a hollow-body axisymmetric anode-enhancer with an inserted spherical target designed, e.g., for at least partial transmutation of long-lived radioactive isotopes of selected chemical elements into stable isotopes of as a rule other chemical elements (a section along the symmetry axis);
• FIG. 7 is a graphic charts of voltage and current change in the RVD discharge pulse
• FIG. 8 is a diagram of absolute (by weight %) distribution of chemical elements according to the mass of atomic nuclei in products of transmutation of chemically pure copper;
• FIG. 9 is a diagram of relative distribution of the same chemical elements according to the mass of atomic nuclei in products of transmutation of chemically pure copper;
• FIG. 10 is a diagram of absolute (by weight %) distribution of chemical elements according to the mass of atomic nuclei in products of transmutation of chemically pure tantalum;
• FIG. 11 is a diagram of relative distribution of the same chemical elements according to the mass of atomic nuclei in products of transmutation of chemically pure tantalum
• FIG. 12 is a diagram of absolute (by weight %) distribution of chemical elements according to the mass of atomic nuclei in products of transmutation of chemically pure lead;
• FIG. 13 is a diagram of relative distribution of the same chemical elements according to the mass of atomic nuclei in products of transmutation of chemically pure lead;
• FIG. 14 is a reference mass spectrum of isotopes of nickel obtained by a study of samples of natural nickel that coincides with the natural abundance of such isotopes in the Earth's crust;
• FIG. 15 is a mass spectrum of relative distribution of isotopes of nickel in one of aggregates on a copper shield obtained in the result of pycnonuclear processes in an integral copper target (specimen No. 1 );
• FIG. 16 is the same mass spectrum as in FIG. 15 obtained in a study of another aggregate of atoms of nickel on the same shield;
• FIG. 17 is a microphotography of a product of impact compression of a substance to a superdense state in the form of an iron hemisphere with a spherical cavity driven into a copper shield and partially etched by an ion beam.
• the device according to the invention (FIG. 1) is made on the basis of a RVD.
• the essential parts thereof are: a strong gas-tight housing 1 which is made partly from a current-conducting material (for example, copper or stainless steel) shaped axisymmetrically to confine a vacuum chamber closed, in the operation condition, with a dielectric end cover 2 and connected when required via at least one pipe (not shown) to a vacuum pump; a non-consumable axisymmetric current-conducting rod 3 preferably circular in the cross section and preferably tapered in the longitudinal section, rigidly and tightly fixed in the cover 2 and intended for connection of RVD to a pulsed high-voltage power source described below; a replaceable (as worn out) axisymmetric plasma cathode comprising:
• a dielectric end element 5 rigidly connected with the rod 4, said element 5 having the area of the working end exceeding the cross-section area of the rod 4; an axisymmetric anode-enhancer 6 which can be either integral or including a target 7, the maximum cross-section area of said anode-enhancer being smaller than the area of the emitting surface of the dielectric end element 5; optionally, a shield 8 preferably of current-conducting material is mounted on the tail part of the anode-enhancer 6; at least one (not shown specially but denoted with pairs of arrows under the contours of the plasma cathode 4, 5 and the anode-enhancer 6) mean for adjusting a gap between the electrodes, /. e.
• the RVD pulsed high-voltage power source in the simplest case can be a well known to those skilled in the art system that includes at least one capacitive or inductive energy storage with at least two plasma (or other) current interrupters.
• the RVD pulsed high-voltage power sources usually incorporate means (not shown) for measuring pulse current and voltage, such as at least one Rogovski belt and at least one capacitive voltage divider.
• High-voltage discharge current 10 kA to 500 kA For effective carrying out of the method of impact compression of a substance, it is recommended to follow a number of additional conditions when producing individual parts of the RVD and targets.
• the plasma cathode (FIG. 3) has its current-conducting rod 4 pointed and dielectric end element 5 provided with a blind or through opening.
• This element 5 must be fitted on the rod 4 with a slight tightness so that the setting part of the rod 4 together with the pointed end be found inside said opening.
• the shape of such opening in its cross-section and the cross-section of the rod 4 may be not circular (e.g., oval, elliptic, starlike, as shown in FIG. 4, etc.).
• the perimeter of the rear end of the dielectric element 5 (FIG. 4) at least in the plane perpendicular to the symmetry axis of the plasma cathode embrace the perimeter of the current-conducting rod 4 with a continuous gap. It is to be understood that this condition can be provided in various shapes of cross-sectional outline of the rod 4 and element 5.
• the dielectric end element 5 of the plasma cathode have a developed outer surface, e.g., initially rough, as shown in FIG. 4, or deliberately corrugated at least in one arbitrary direction.
• element 5 can be used having a shape of an axisymmetric multiple-pointed star in their cross-sections.
• the minimum cross-sectional dimension C d e mm of said element 5 be in the range of (5-10)-c cr max , and the length I d e be in the range of (10-20)-c cr ma ⁇ , where c cr max is a maximum cross-sectional dimension of the current-conducting rod 4.
• Said element 5 of the plasma cathode can be made of any dielectric material, which (at the chosen shape and dimensions) is capable for a breakdown under the chosen working voltage in the gap between the RVD electrodes. It is preferable that such material be selected from the group consisting of carbon- chain polymers with single carbon-to-carbon bonds (e.g., polyethylene, polypropylene efc.), paper-base laminate or textolite type composite materials with organic binders, ebony wood, natural or synthetic mica, pure oxides of metals belonging to lll-VII groups of the periodic table, inorganic glass, sitall, basalt-fiber felt and ceramic dielectrics. As it was mentioned above, the axisymmetric anode-enhancer 6 can be: either integral (FIG.
• a maximum diameter of the axisymmetric inserted target 7 is preferably selected in the range of (0.05-0.2)-d max , where d max is a maximum cross-sectional dimension of the anode-enhancer 6 as a whole. Irrespective of the geometric shape of the target 7 body, it must be fixed inside the anode-enhancer 6 so that the center of its surface curvature practically coincide with the curvature center of the working surface of the anode enhancer 6. It is very important that dislocation density in the material of the anode-enhancer 6 and in the material of the target 7 be as small as possible and that an acoustic contact be provided between these parts.
• Said shield 8 which can be mounted in the tail part of the anode-enhancer 6, is usually made from a current-conducting material as a preferably thin-wall body of revolution.
• the diameter of said shield 8 must be not smaller than 5d max and it's distance from the working end of the anode-enhancer 6 must be not greater than 20d ma ⁇ , where d max is a maximum cross-sectional dimension of the anode-enhancer 6. It is desirable that said shield 8 have a flat or concave surface at the side of the working end of the anode-enhancer 6 (FIGS. 5 and 6).
• the method for impact compression a substance using the described device usually includes: a) connecting the current-conducting rod 4 of the aforesaid plasma cathode to the non-consumable current-conducting rod 3; b) producing a set of replaceable axisymmetric anodes-enhancers 6 preferably having their working ends rounded in one of the following variants: either in the form of integral pieces of the material to be compressed by impact
• targets 7 are tightly inserted, said targets being made of the material (preliminarily encapsulated, as required) to be compressed by impact (for transmutation or any other nuclear transformation); c) (optionally) fitting at least some of the anodes-enhancers 6 with current- conducting shields 8 made of copper, lead, niobium, tantalum etc.; d) placing each next anode-enhancer 6 in the vacuum chamber of the RVD housing 1 practically on the same geometric axis with the plasma cathode 4, 5; e) adjusting the gap between the working ends of the dielectric end element 5 of the plasma cathode and the anode-enhancer 6 in such a way that the center of curvature of the working surface of the anode-enhancer 6 is located inside the focal space of the collectively self-focussing electron beam at a pulse discharge of the power source via the RVD; f) closing the
• the experimental targets were intended to: demonstrate the transmutation effect as a result of the impact compression of a substance to a superdense state (integral anodes-enhancers 6 in accordance with FIG. 5); and evaluate the possibility of radioactive materials deactivation (hollow-body anode- enhancers 6 with inserted target 7 according to FIGS. 1 and 6).
• such target 7 must be inserted into the anode-enhancer 6 providing the maximum acoustic transparency of their junction contact, and the curvature centers of the working surfaces of the both said components must coincide practically.
• the integral anodes-enhancers 6 had average radius of curvature of the working ends in the range of 0.2 to 0.5 mm, as a rule. They were made, particularly, of chemically pure metals, such as copper, tantalum and lead. Such anodes-enhancers 6 can be stored outdoors. An oxide film that appears on the surface (especially of copper and lead) does not prevent and, according to some observations, even enhances their use in accordance with the above-mentioned purposes.
• the inserted targets 7 had a shape of pellets made of available Co 60 isotope and artificial mixtures of Co 56 and Co 58 produced by irradiation of natural nickel on U-120 cyclotron in Nuclear Research Institute of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
• the current density on the surface of the working end of the anode-enhancer 6 was possible to establish within the range of 10 6 A/cm 2 to 10 8 A/cm 2 .
• this parameter was maintained within the range of 10 6 A cm 2 to 10 7 A/cm 2 .
• Electron microprobe-analyzers REMMA-102, Tesla and Cameca were used for detecting of separated aggregates of transmutation products and determination of their position on the surface (on shields 8 in particular) with the purpose of subsequent study of the elemental and isotopic composition (and in certain cases, for registration of the shape of such aggregates).
• JamplOS model of an Auger spectrometer by JEOL, time- of-flight pulsed laser mass-spectrometer designed by Kiev's National T.G. Shevchenko University (Ukraine), ionic microprobe-analyzer CAMECA's IMS-4f and FINNIGAN's highly sensitive mass-spectrometer VG9000 were used for the study of the elemental and isotopic composition of said products.
• FIGS. 8 to 13 wherein vertical dash lines indicate the charge of an initial chemical element's nucleus. It should be noted, that the isotopes of chemical elements which were not present in the initial material of the target but appeared in the products of transmutation are indicated in FIGS. 8, 10 and 12: by light circles according to their concentration in said products of pycnonuclear processes, by black squares according to their concentration in the Earth's crust.
• Nuclei charges and percentage by weight of these isotopes are easy to determine using the numerical data on the X and Y axis respectively.
• FIGS. 9, 11 and 13 show relative deviations V of concentrations (% by weight) of certain chemical elements from natural abundance ratio that were calculated by formula:
• a + B A is a ratio of a certain isotope of a certain chemical element in the products of transmutation
• ⁇ is a ratio of the same isotope of the same chemical element in the Earth's crust.
• FIGS. 9, 11 and 13 clearly show that concentrations of substantial portion of chemical elements in transmutation products statistically reliably exceed (more than in three times and some elements in 5-10 and more times) their normal concentrations in the Earth's crust (see areas marked out with dark colour within the range of Y values from 0.5 to 1.0). This obviously proves the artificial origin of such products of pycnonuclear processes.
• sample No. 2479 was deactivated only by 2.2 % whereas sample No. 2397 and No. 2588 lost more than 45 % of their activity in the result of transmutation.
• the brightest example of such drastic discrepancy is the difference between the normal distribution of isotopes of nickel in natural samples (FIG. 14) and in two aggregates of nickel atoms produced by transmutation of copper targets (FIGS. 15 and 16).
• the content of Ni 58 isotope is up to 70 % in the mass of natural nickel, while the proportion of Ni 58 in products of copper transmutation (with Cu 63 isotope dominating in the target) exceeds 10 %.
• content of Ni 60 isotope essentially (usually twice) decreased whereas content of Ni 62 sharply increased.
• a bright evidence of impact compression of a substance to a superdense state by the method according to the invention is an ejection from the RVD focal space rather big bodies whose shape visually proves the existence of necessary conditions for a short-term appearance of at least electron-nuclear and, even, electron- nucleonic plasma in said space.
• FIG. 17 presented essentially iron hemisphere comprising 93 % by weight Fe with admixtures of silicon and copper isotopes on the background of the copper shield.
• this hemisphere is a fraction of a spherical body formed from a substantial part of the copper anode-enhancer 6 (sample No. 4908 according to the log- book of the applicant). It has an outer diameter about 95 ⁇ m and a practically concentric spherical cavity with a diameter of about 35 ⁇ m. The roughness on the major portion of the ring end of the hemisphere can be explained by the crack of the initial sphere.
• the device for compressing a substance by impact may be produced using commercially available components, and the method according to invention may be a basis for development and implementation of highly efficient and environmentally safe technologies for:

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• Particle Accelerators (AREA)
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• 2003
  • 2003-05-19 AT AT03728211T patent/ATE341186T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2003-05-19 RU RU2003130474/06A patent/RU2261494C2/ru active IP Right Revival
  • 2003-05-19 DE DE60308640T patent/DE60308640T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2003-05-19 CN CNB03803607XA patent/CN1295946C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
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  • 2003-05-19 WO PCT/UA2003/000015 patent/WO2004017685A1/en not_active Ceased
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  • 2003-05-19 KR KR1020047016356A patent/KR100689347B1/ko not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2003-05-19 EP EP03728211A patent/EP1464210B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
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  • 2003-05-19 BR BRPI0308818A patent/BRPI0308818B8/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2003-05-19 US US10/509,665 patent/US20050200256A1/en not_active Abandoned

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